Mobile communication devices are in widespread usage, particularly in the form of “smart” cellular telephone devices. It is common for such devices to have a “silent” ring mode where, upon receiving a message, or an indication of an incoming phone call, a vibration motor is activated to cause the device to vibrate. Typically in such cases no audible alert (i.e. ringing) is used, although both can be used together if selected by the user of the device.
A common design goal with such devices is, generally, to reduce their size and weight, subject to other design choices such as, for example, display size. This tends to limit the efficacy of vibration devices, leading to people not noticing when the device is vibrating under many conditions. For example, a smartphone carried in a user's pocket while operating a motor vehicle in traffic can result in insufficient vibration and distraction such that the user may not notice the smartphone vibrating in response to an incoming phone call. In louder environments, such as construction sites, where communication can be crucial at times, the vibrations of machinery and construction activities can mask the vibration of a typical smartphone vibration motor completely so that the user does not get alerted to incoming communications.
Another concern of organizations that use alerting and notifications that are transmitted to personnel is compliance with organizational policies regarding responsiveness to alerts. In particular, organizations have an interest in ensuring that the members (e.g. employees) receive and observe notification and alerts while in work areas in order to ensure that personnel can take appropriate action in response to the occurrence of a given event or situation.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for providing vibratory alerts in a way that overcomes the masking effects of ambient conditions without interfering with the generally desirable design goals of mobile communication devices, and there is a further need to ensure that personnel in an organization that uses alerting properly use their assigned alerting device.
Those skilled in the field of the present disclosure will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. The details of well-known elements, structure, or processes that would be necessary to practice the embodiments, and that would be well known to those of skill in the art, are not necessarily shown and should be assumed to be present unless otherwise indicated.